Indicated speed (what the speedo says) vs rpm is absolutely fixed; there's nothing you can do about it unless you change out the gears in the tranny. As for actual speed vs. rpm, you can go to a taller or shorter tire and that'll change things a little bit.

 

My IX runs at about 3100 rpm at 70 with stock tires.

 

Thanks for the advice, but I like the look of the 17 inchers. After reading everybody's responses I have come to the realization that highway cruising isn't much better on gas mileage than city driving unless you drive around 65 mph and who wants to do that. I don't want to see any flaming about how if I want a car with good gas mileage then I should have bought a different car. That was not the purpose of the initial post.

 

Are you just trying to reach 50 posts so you can sell something? None of your posts make sense.

 

Warr is correct about the ratio... this is a science... any deviation from the numbers below mean you have non-stock wheels/tires OR your tach is not 100% accurate

If you have stock wheels/tires, then:

VIII : 5th Gear = 70MPH @ 3000RPM
IX : 5th Gear = 70MPH @ 3200RPM
IX MR : 6th Gear = 70MPH @ 2900RPM

This info is taken from factual ratios provided by another member on the site ( don't have the link, I just saved the Excel doc. for times like this )

Fun fact, while we're on the topic... if you could get your IX MR to 8500RPM in 6th gear, theoretically you should be at 204mph!

 

But can we reach to that speed?...
hehehehehe...

Sure can but not in the stock form..

 

No, because of aerodynamics. It would take a lot of changes to get an Evo to 204mph - more than just power.

 

I thought there was a thread w/ Evo hitting 200mph.... Clearly it was modded, but I don't think it had any crazy body mods... the only uncommon mod I remember was sequential shift

 

Sorry for the bump, but I didn't want to make a new thread for this.

What RPM should I be aiming at on the highway for an extended drive? The thought of cruising at 3,000-3,500 rpm for hours on end just seems bad for some reason. I know that the engine isn't being put under a lot of stress when you're just cruising out of boost, but I've also heard that 3,000 rpm is where MIVEC kicks in. Is there any reason for concern when cruising at those revs? Should I make sure to pull over between fill-ups to let it idle for a bit or anything like that?

Sorry if it's a stupid question, but it was bugging me the last time I drove on the highway.

I drive a IX MR, BTW.

 

I like the IX gearing on the highway. Don't have to downshift to pass and when cruising at 80 all it takes is a little gas to spool the turbo.

 

My VIII does the same thing. I just barely tap the gas and the turbo spools up and before I know it I'm passing cars at 100.

 

There is nothing wrong with cruising at 3000 rpm. When I was stationed in Germany I used to cruise on the autobahn at 5k rpm just so that I could maintain at least 120mph. I would do this for hours at a time and my car never broke down on me then.

 

so what would be the tallest 5th gear you could put into a 5 speed, galant vr4 gear?